Farm package deal unlikely before June

Date: 16/05/1996

AGRICULTURE ministers will almost certainly have to wait until their last meeting under Italian chairmanship to agree the farm prices for 1996-97 and reforms of the fruit and vegetable sector.

No one is putting any money on an agreement at next week's meeting, principally because of the continuing obsession with the beef crisis, but also because of the continuing uncertainty in Italian domestic politics.

Rome is still considering asking for the meeting, scheduled for 20-21 May, to be postponed until the following Tuesday to allow whoever takes over from Walter Luchetti as farm minister to find his or her feet.

There is even talk of a special council to deal purely with fruit and vegetable reform, with Luchetti keen to broker a deal on a crucial sector for Italian farmers before his mandate runs out.

Central to progress will be the Commission's proposals to assist beef farmers affected by BSE.

The Commissioners' senior advisers this week agreed on a flat-rate top-up of 30 ecu on the suckler cow premium and 25 ecu on the special beef premium.

Although content with the principle of further EU help for the beef sector, several ministers are likely to point out that some countries have been more seriously affected than others, and stress the need to prevent measures which would stimulate unwanted production.

The Commission has stressed that it is prepared to deal with special measures for beef separately, but experience suggests that everything will be thrown into the melting-pot for a deal covering quite unrelated questions.

The Special Committee for Agriculture this week continued technical work on this year's prices, concentrating on the usual combination of member states' 'shopping lists' and attempts to limit the effects of the Commission's proposals.

Apart from the beef talks, ministers are jockeying for position on the standard rate of arable set-aside and on plans to introduce quotas for flax producers. As has become customary, several member states are also fighting plans to cut monthly increases in storage payments for cereals and sugar farmers.

Although the Parliament's opinion on the price proposals has little or no bearing on the final package agreed by ministers, they are nevertheless unlikely to agree anything before MEPs have held their vote.

Everyone has now accepted that plans to reduce the EU's infamous wine lake will not be agreed before September, the start of the next marketing year. But this has not discouraged the wine-producing countries from calling on the Commission to ease what they consider to be draconian measures, preventing them from planting any new vines. This is certain to be a major bargaining chip in talks towards a final compromise.